i was out and about today and this poor ugly duckling followed me home for 300 bucks... time to start amping up my saiga conversion research and start ordering some parts...
i wish it was 7.62 but in connecticut the evil 7.62x39, when fired from an "ak type rifle" is known to be the most powerful weapon ever wielded by man.
totally wood, as "AK47" as i can possibly get, i dont even wanna use the tapco wood stocks, been looking on gunjoker for decent looking furniture. will any AK furniture fit these saigas once you convert everything? could i swap the wood from a WASR2 onto it if i wanted for now?
waiting for parts, so i took the fugly saiga stock off and then reassembled her to put it away until i get parts/a final plan for what i want to accomplish. i thought pulling that stupid stock off made it look so much better haha
Just remember... you don't have to bust through every rivet/weld to do the conversion. Grinding off the rivets with a Dremel and carbide cutting bit carefully is the best way. That way when you pop the plate off you'll see what rivets need to be removed and what can stay and be smoothed over so you don't have a receiver bottom full of holes.
I sand down the rivet behind the mag catch smooth so it looks flush when painted. And when I say painted I mean with this:
You only have to dust a few light thin coats on the bottom of the receiver after buffing it down with a scotch brite pad and wiping it down with a degreaser (prefered) or Gun Scrubber. Roll some masking tape along the sides of the receiver when spaying and blend in the finish. Its an old body shop trick to blend in paint lines. Heres a pic of how I usually do it on Saigas:
Heating up the metal with a heat gun or hair dryer first will make the paint flash off fast in between coats. Full cure won't come for a few days later. If you try to handle it a few hours after spraying you'll scratch a bunch of it off and have to re-spray.
Don't worry about the bolt hold open btw. Its a useless feature that has no business in an AK build unless you want the spring to break and cause you some problems one day at the range. if you're handy with a tig welder, weld the gap shut and smooth out the weld before spraying the receiver bottom.
I am in the process of doing the conversion. All went well until I tried to take the orginal gas piston off. I drilled out the rivet and with great difficulty I finally managed to unscrew the piston. The new new USA mfg. Tapco piston went on with almost as much difficulty as the Russian one came off. I now realize I probably didn't have to replace it because I already had enough USA parts in the build.
I used a battlefield pick up set that I got dirt cheap $35 for 3 sets and refinished it I forget the site at the moment though! Atilla help? I remember you got one too! Nevermind found it! https://www.apexgunparts.com/product_info.php/products_id/2034 worth checking out if you haven't found any yet happy shooting!
i wish it was 7.62 but in connecticut the evil 7.62x39, when fired from an "ak type rifle" is known to be the most powerful weapon ever wielded by man.
totally wood, as "AK47" as i can possibly get, i dont even wanna use the tapco wood stocks, been looking on gunjoker for decent looking furniture. will any AK furniture fit these saigas once you convert everything? could i swap the wood from a WASR2 onto it if i wanted for now?
You might want to check out this thread. We did a group buy on the Saiga 5.45's and this was the thread where all the mods were discussed. Tons of good info.
question for you guys, what handguard retainer is the best buy for a saiga conversion? someone told me bolt on? also, can i just use any ak74 gas tube?
ok, ordered the conversion kit and the CSS retainer. what about the gas tube they are sold out. any way i can use the original Saiga tube with the gay timbersmith stock set i got?
also, trying my WASR gas tube on the saiga, i notice it fits like a glove until i try to slide the locking lever down on the FSB, it jams on the top of the tube, just poor Romanian machining or???
ok, ordered the conversion kit and the CSS retainer. what about the gas tube they are sold out. any way i can use the original Saiga tube with the gay timbersmith stock set i got?
also, trying my WASR gas tube on the saiga, i notice it fits like a glove until i try to slide the locking lever down on the FSB, it jams on the top of the tube, just poor Romanian machining or???
You can use just about any standard AK gas tube. You just need to file the top of the back end where it fits at the trunnion. Compare it to your factory Saiga gas tube and you'll see the differences in the beveled edge.
ok conversion is 90% complete. i screwed up two things, first, when i got the bottom plate off, i used brakleen to blast all the metal shards out of the receiver. apparently, everything that comes from the glorious izhmash plant is of high quality except the paint, it pretty much all pissed off the rifle and onto the floor... SO, im going to have to paint more than just the bottom. the 2nd thing i kinda boggled is on the bullet guide, my bit, although i used a punch, wandered a CH to one side, so i had to machine the head of the screw down said CH to get it to settle just right.
all is well though, i am waiting on a backordered retaining plate from CSS.
one question, i am playing with it now that its sort of together, the bakelite ak74 mags i have fit no problem, but steel ones dont seem to go in easily if at all. any way to fix this? did i screw something up?
Saigas usually need some material removed from the top of the mag catch to allow for surplus mags to fit. I don't have a pic handy to show where but I'm sure there's a youtube video or pic thread somewhere.
cool, i was using VHT header paint and it looks like a crappy duracoat job. thanks alot for the pointers ray. im going to go dremmel the mag catch plate so i can get the steelies in well...
and final mock up, the retaining plate inside is backordered so i have to wait to put the guts back in. i doubt i am going to use this timberwolf grip and maybe not even the stock, the handguards are decent though. i wish i could use one of the battlefield pick up kits from apex.
Hey Joker, I was short a retaining plate when I just put my new Saiga back together. I was able to re-use the one that came with the Saiga. That's the long, straight wire with the spring coil on the end.
I don't have pictures, and I don't want to take the rifle back apart, so I'll try to describe it:
-On the end of the wire with the spring coil, I cut off about half of the coils. This was so it would fit onto the safety lever.
-I stuck the straight end of the wire in from the back of the receiver, under the trigger pin and over the hammer pin.
-I made sure that the wire was engagining the slot on both pins.
-I lifted up the coiled end of the wire and hooked it over the safety lever as I slid the safety lever into the left side hole.
I have not fired it yet in this configuration, and I have since received my retaining plate from Dinzag, but I have cycled the rifle repeatedly and the wire seems rock solid.
Edit: Here is a half-assed sketch using my other spare spring:
Or, you can just order a retaining plate from Dinzag. You'll have it in about 3 days.
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